ChildCentre Description:

The program was designed for automatic control of the time children spend playing their games during a day. Every child (as user of a particular user account) will have particular program settings and will be able to use the program independently of other users in this computer. Even if an adult is not near the child, ChildCentre controls the total time and closes the program that is running (or Windows depending on the defined mode) if the time limit is expired. Then ChildCentre does not allow to start dedicated programs (or to work with Windows) during the rest of the day.

There are two ways to organize control of the time a child spends using the computer.1. For smaller children (3 – 5 y.o.) we propose dedicated programs mode. It this mode ChildCentre counts time only while a dedicated program is run. Before using the program, an adult enters in ChildCentre the list of programs to be run.2. For older children (5 – 7 y.o.) we propose absolute time counting mode. In this mode ChildCentre counts time when Windows is running. In the both modes the adult defines total time. The child can spend only that time, not more during a day.

When there is 10 minutes left to the end of limited time, ChildCentre sounds 4 signals with intervals of 1 second. When there is 5 minutes left, it sounds 5 signals. When there is 1 minute left, it sounds 6 signals. The last 10 seconds are followed with 10 signals.

The child has to finish the current game before time is out. If he does not do this, the game is closed by ChildCentre. Then the child does not have access to the games up to the end of the current day.

Review for ChildCentre

ChildCentrerating
4.75 out of
5
based on
12 ratings. With
2 user reviews.

Simplicity and stability

K.A.|02/06/08

ChildCentre is easy to use for children and their parents. Configuration and its alteration is a simple and fast process. You can specify what programs are allowed to use and how long period per day. Myself I have used only time counting feature, so my children can use all of the installed programs.

Computer time restriction is defined in one minute level, but in version 6 all weekdays have the same settings. When allowed time is nearly used, computer beeps a couple of times. From Windows notification area user can whenever see how much time is left. When the time restriction is reached, user will be logged off. ChildCentre has separate setting for every user, and I think this is necessity. A little child needs more restrictions than an older one.

Manufacturer recommends this program for 3 to 7 years children. But I think that some improvements could make it serviceable for any usage when computer time limiting is needed. Now the program can easily be uninstalled without password. And every user can easily kill the program by Windows task manager. Hope that these things will be fixed in future releases. But if program is used by 3 to 7 years children, this might not be a problem.

I like this program's simplicity and and stability. It does very well what it is designed to do.

ChildCentre 4.5

Hans|10/22/06

Childcentre works surprisingly simple and seems to be very effective.Very nice tool to limit the use of your PC and to prevent internet addictions.